Punching bag exercising apparatus



April 17, 1962 B. F. ALBITZ PUNCHING BAG EXERCISING APPARATUS FiledSept. 23, 1959 Mmm ,47m/WHS 3,030,109 PUNCG BAG EXERCISDIG APPARATUSBenjamin F. Albitz, The Highlands, Mound, Minn. Filed Sept. 23, 1939,Ser. No. 841,843 1 Claim. (Cl. 272-78) This invention relates toathletic equipment and particularly to a portable collapsibleself-mounted punching bag apparatus especially suitable. for developingcoordination between the various parts of the body.

An important object of my invention is a novel punchlng bag apparatuswhich is adapted to be mounted on and move with the user.

Still another object is a punching bag device of the class describedwhichis especially effective. as an'allaround body conditioner fordeveloping coordination between the various parts of the body andoperating to condition all of the major parts of therbodysimultaneously.

Still another object is a punching bag exerciser Vof the class describedwhich is especially effective in shadow boxing since it enables the userto always have a moving target before him and within reach instead ofattempting to box with a shadow, reflection or imaginary object.

Still another object is a punching bag exerciser of the class describedwhich is particularly effective in strengthening the muscles of the eyesand in coordinating the central nervous or motor system to sustain andmaintain xation of the eyes to improve the powers of vconcentration ofthe user.Y

Still another object is a punching bag apparatus of the class describedwhich is substantially noiseless and free of vibration which enables thesame to be used in any room of the house Without disturbing persons inother parts of said house such as would be the case were the punchingbag .to be mounted on the wall or ceiling of the house as in theconventional manner.

Another object is a punching bag exerciser of the class described whichis capable of readily collapsing to a small compact package for ease intransportation, carrying, shipment and storage and which is readilyunfolded and set up with a minimum of effort when the same is to be putto use.

A still further object is a punching bag exerciser of the classdescribed in which the bag is suspended in front of the user from aportable frame mounted on the torso of the user and extending over hishead.

Still another object is an exercising apparatus of the class abovedescribed in which the punching bag is adapted for vertical andhorizontal adjustment to accommodate itself to the individual desiresand physical characteristics of the user and in which the frame itselfis vertically adjustable relative to the user to control thedistribution and balance of the supporting frame to a position which ismost comfortable and most beneficial to the user.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to thesame or similar parts, and in which:

FIGA is a side elevational view of the apparatus of my device mounted onthe torso of a user;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line4 4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a detail cross sectional view on an enlarged scale of thebumper fastening means.

Referring tothe drawings for a more detailed description of a preferredembodiment of my invention, the supporting frame includes a verticalframe having ver- 3,030,3@9 Federated Apr. l?, i952 tical side standardsconsisting of tubular longitudinally adjustable telescopically engagedlower members 10a and upper members 10b fastened together by suitablefasteners. This enables the bag supporting platform hereinafter `to bedescribed to be vertically adjusted as to height and permits the weightand balance of the entire structure tobe adjusted since the relativeheight of the bag supporting platform and the bag itself above the useris important as to balance and comfort particularly when the user movesinto a position other than upright, that is, into a position of twistingor bending motion.

The lower members 10a are interconnected by means of rearwardly bowedcross bracing members il and 11a which are curved in a fashion toconform generally to the curvature of the back to enable the frame to becomfortably contoured land fitted thereto. The lowermost j cross member11 is provided vwith forwardly curved end portions 11b which are adaptedto partially encircle the torso to prevent vertical side to side tiltingof the supporting frame during use and lend greater stability thereto.The lower standard members 10a have mounted on the front face Vthereofhangers 12 having forwardly and downwardly curved hook portions 12a, thecurved portions 12a being adapted to be hooked over the shoulders of theuser to rest comfortably on the same and support the entire bagsupporting frame on the user thereby. The upper outer end of the hookportions 12a have attached thereto sturdy liexible leather straps 13which are prefera-bly looped at their lower ends as at 13a for receivinga conventional leather belt 14 the ends of which are secured to the endportions 11b ofthe cross member 11, the straps 13 and 14 and hangerelement `12 providing a sturdy and convenient harness for mounting thebag supporting frame or structure on the torso of the user. The frontface of the hanger element 12 is preferably lined with suitablecushioning material such as foam rubber or the like indicated by thenumeral 15 and the lower legs of the hanger elements 12 are preferablyprovided with shock absorbers or cushion elements 16 disposed betweenthehanger and the standard 10a to reduce the vibration and shocktransmitted by the punchling of the bag to the back of the user. Itshould also be noted that the entire frame structure is preferably ofstrong light-weight tubular. material Asuch as aluminum.

The horizontal bag supporting portion of the frame comprises a generallyrectangular frame 17 including side members 18, a front member 19 and aback member 20 which is pivotally mounted for free turning movement onand about the lateral portions of the corners 21 attached to the sides1S, the upper ends of the standards 10 being secured to the back member20. The vertical frame 1t) and horizontal frame i7 are detachablymaintained generally perpendicular to one another during use by means ofa pair of diagonally disposed bracing members 22, the ends of which aresecured to the frames by means of suitable fasteners 23 to provide therigidity and relative perpendicular relationship desired.

An annular tubular bag supporting frame 24 is disposed within thehorizontal frame 17 adjacent the forward end thereof and is suspendedtherefrom by a pair of rigid parallel spaced apart suspending strips 25,the ends of Y which are provided with concave portions 25a and'ZSb epee,a

bolt 27 vertically disposed in the space separating the two frames.Suitable lining 28 is provided between the members 25 and 26 and theframes to reduce noise and vibration. This arrangement not only securesthe platform or frame 24 to the supporting frame 17, but also readilypermits the platform to be horizontally adjusted towards and away fromthe user to adjust the distance between the punching bag and the user bysimply loosening the connecting bolts 27.

An inflated punching bag 29 is suspended from a transverse cross brace30 secured to the platform 24 by means of a suspension or hanger element31 which may consist of an elongate eye bolt which may be readily raisedor lowered to adjust the height of the bag with relation to the user asdesired. The lower face of the platform 24 has mounted thereon acircular rebound ring or bumper 32 preferably of a somewhat resilientmaterial such as rubber which is capable of reducing as much as possiblethe noise and vibration of the bag as it is oscillated by the repeatedhitting thereof by the fists of the user, and to reduce as much aspossible the attendant wear on the bag. The bumper 32 is preferablymounted on the frame or platform 24 by means of fasteners 33, the headsof which are disposed interiorly of the bumper, the shank of whichengages the bumper Wall and frame 24 and is secured thereto by means ofa nut 34. This arrangement permits the bumper to present a completelysmooth unobstructed surface to the bag to prevent undue wear on the bagwhich would occur if the fasteners were exposed to the action of thebag.

In use, the frame 10 is simply mounted on the torso of the user byhooking the curved portions 12a of the hanger elements 12 over theshoulders of the user and suitably fastening the leather belt 14 aboutthe waist in conventional fashion. The horizontal frame 17 will havebeen previously lixed with relation to the vertical frame 10 by thesecurement of the diagonal braces 23 and the apparatus is ready for use.It is obvious that once mounted, the punching bag can be operated in theusual fashion provided for punching bags which are normally mounted on afixed support such as a wall or ceiling. However,

ecause of the self-mounted nature of the supporting structure of thebag, the bag is always in front of the user regardless of how or wherehe moves and is always within the reach of his lists which permits himto employ the bag while he is shadow boxing to make more effective hisshadow boxing and make sharper his coordination and also to make theshadow boxing more interesting since it is difficult for a boxer ortrainee to maintain interest in conventional shadow boxing for asufficient length of time to permit the same to be as effective as itmight otherwise be.

In addition to the usual advantages associated with the punching of thebag and the additional advantage of having the punching bag alwayspresent while shadow boxing, the portable self-mounted arrangement ofthe frame also permits the user to perform different types of legexercises such as skipping, jumping and squatting to exercise the legmuscles in coordination with the punching of the bag to not only improvestrength and improve muscular tone and condition but primarily tocoordinate all of the members of the body. In addition, the manner inwhich the supporting frame is mounted on the torso of the user providesa very beneficial result to the torso of the user particularly when hechooses to bend and twist, dodge and so forth as in shadow boxing sincethe weight of the structure and the balancing thereof places abeneficial strain on the torso muscles of the user as he ,4 bends andtwists to definitely and positively condition the same.

A`s previously pointed out, the punching bag exerciser of my inventionnot only improves the muscles and the coordination between the bodymembers but also improves the vision of the user by coordinating thecentral or motor nervous system which maintains control over a personsability to sustain and maintain fixation of the eyes on any givensubject and to concentrate for a considerable length of time. This isparticularly beneficial to people who have had trouble previously infocusing their attention on any one subject for any reasonable length oftime and is also particularly beneficial to school children who have inthe past failed to concentrate on their studies sufficiently to get themost out of their school work and to obtain grades comparable with theircapabilitie-s.

In addition to the above recited advantages, it should also be notedthat the foldable or collapsible nature of the frame permits thehorizontal frame portion 17 and vertical frame portion 10 to be swung orfolded towards one another into a compact package for ease intransporting and storing. The adjustable features of the frarne and bagpermit the entire structure to be balanced and positioned as desired.Also, the vertical adjustability of the bag permits variation in therebounding movements of the bag due to the particular configurationthereof, and also enables the wear to be more evenly distributed on thebag by varying the portion of the bag surface which strikes the bumper.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various partswithout departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

An exercising device comprising in combination an oscillatable punchingbag and a supporting frame therefor, said supporting frame including avertical frame portion comprised of cooperatively and adjustablyinterconnected upper and lower sections adapted for relative verticalmovement therebetween to permit raising and lowering of said uppersection with respect to said lower section, means carried by said lowersection for mounting said supporting frame on the rear of the torso of aperson using the device, a horizontal frame portion pivotallyinterconnected to the upper section of said vertical frame portion forrelative pivotal movement of said frame portions into collapsedside-by-side relation, means for maintaining said frame portions inextended unfolded generally perpendicular relationship to one another,an annular bumper member adjustably mounted on said horizontal frameportion for movement towards and away from the user, and a punching bagsuspended in concentric relation from said bumper member and beingmovable therewith for selectively varying the distance between saidpunching bag and the user while maintaining said bumper member and saidpunching bag in predetermined fixed position relative to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,973,198 Bergmann Sept. 11, 1934 2,400,105 Costello May 14, 19462,764,412 Dunham Sept. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,496 Great Britain 1910

